Life in a Small Town
by VescaWithoutWings
Summary: Iruka's POV of life in a small town as he grows from youth to adult told in a quick style
1. Chapter 1

Please enjoy a First person POV, past tense from me… :D

High School was survived by me as it has been and will ever be by all the students who go through it even though most think they'll die before they ever reach their adult years we have all mostly survived intact. Like most people experiences, my first three years were a hell I won't ever wish on another person, but that last year, my senior year was the best time of my life only equaled but never topped by some of my more recent college years; but even those years are missing the one thing that made that year I turned eighteen the best.

I grew up in a medium sized rural town, not too small but big enough to warrant a separate Jr. High and High school. Summers were spent on my mother's aunt's farm a few hours away from our house in town. The fields she owned grew massive amounts of strawberries and other tiny, tart fruits. My mother refused to allow me to wear any good clothes near the end of the summer as she never knew which of the ripened berries would be staining my cheeks, hands, and shirts that day. My young self would follow the hired pickers around and occasionally help pick or eat the tiny leftover berries that just weren't ripe yet. Those were my favorites. I remember many stomach aches every summer once the picking started, I'm sure my auntie does too.

The school year was spent in town and again with auntie during the winter as she moved in with us citing old bones and needed companionship while her farmstead got snowed in yearly. It was an enjoyable way to grow up.

Of course there were bad times, any kid will have them. For most of the years my bad times eclipsed everybody else's; offering me a sort of unwelcome celebrity that thankfully everyone avoided talking about. It started when I was ten with a school report for history.

I had come home whining about a report on immigration that I was given to do that I would have to stand up in front of everybody for. My father had immediately smiled wide and sat me down. It turned into a whole family affair; my mother brought dinner into the living room, unusual for us while auntie sat with her evening drink and added snippets. Father began the story with his own childhood in Greece. He and his parents had come over to America with the intention of staying, but grandfather hadn't been pleased and the family had decided to move back home. My father, having been fifteen at the time, had decided that he loved the US more than Greece and literally jumped ship. His parents weren't flying back home, but taking advantage of a cruise offered by some friends. My father left them a nice note and went to make his own future.

He wound up making his way into the migrant workers that roamed around helping whatever farm was in need of hand pickers or other help at the time. That was how he met my mother at my auntie's farm. It took three years and a day of illegal immigrant amnesty for my mother to finally give in to her feelings for him. My father proudly told me of the day he stood in front of the judge and gave his vows of citizenship; my mother had tears in her eyes. They had been married for six years by then. Father was twenty-six, mother was twenty-one, and I was about to be born in three months.

My teacher had been surprised at my report and commended me for it. At the end of the school year I was asked to stand up in front of the entire high school auditorium full of families and give my report again as an example of the outstanding schoolwork even the elementary students of our small town could do. I did so in a strained if even voice with my auntie's hand on my shoulder after having been just released from the hospital two weeks before. At that time my parents had been dead for three months. I couldn't see the audience as they listened to my father's story, but I could hear the sniffles.

That was what caused my celebrity, that and a few other things; my ability to pull off awesome pranks and the school's allowance for me to grow my hair longer. Due to the car accident where I lost my parents I had several thick scars on my scalp and one very noticeable one across my nose. My auntie spoke to my school counselor and was able to get a pass on their rules for boy's haircuts. I was allowed to grow my hair long enough to pull back in a tail which would hide those shiny stripes of skin thereby eliminating some awkwardness and possible teasing, It was a ruling easily passed to my High School counselor who accepted it without question. To everybody's eyes except my auntie's I was an exemplary student with strong friends and an easy laugh. Little did they know.

As everyone will while they grow up, I had friends come and go. Some didn't work out; some moved out of town, others just grew apart. Through all my years in school I found and kept two good friends, Anko and Hayate. We plagued our schools like any click of too smart for their own good kids will do. Anko's physical prowess on any sports field gained her the domination of the high school as she took the women's volleyball, soccer and track teams to victory starting in her sophomore year. Hayate ran the school paper and actively fought for both our state and our town to give more to the schools; successfully gaining an upgraded computer lab for the high school who passed down their older computers to the junior high and theirs to the local library succeeding in offering up to ten people in town at a time free internet access. I, myself was just the all around good student who could do no wrong. I was the defender of the underdogs, always giving two hundred percent and showing those smart kids that even average kids could succeed. I was also the school's soccer team's star goalie. Our team had the highest rate of games won in overtime due to a fantastic kicker on our side who couldn't run and an even better goalie, me, keeping anything and everything from flying between our posts.

It was our senior year where we truly shined as the 'future leaders of the community' that the local newspaper painted us and a few other of our classmates. It was also that year where we gained a few new teachers that changed all of our lives forever.

That year we were all taking specialty courses that Hayate had worked on getting introduced to our small school. On an intern program with several teaching colleges our school gained some new and interesting faces.

Anko fell head over heels in a high school crush with her ethics professor, Mr. Sannin. He was from a big city, had grown his hair much longer than my shoulder length locks and could argue Hayate to a standstill on both politics and morality. Hayate hated him, but neither of us were able to keep Anko from attaching herself to him. It wasn't until later that we found out just how dangerous that attachment would be and how far away from us it would take her.

Hayate shined his senior year for a different reason. The papers held him up as the bravest young man our town had known in a long time as he began a serious battle against a childhood disease that had never truly gone away. He was in and out of the hospital that year, but always coming back to school as soon as possible whether his lungs were working properly yet or not. He brought his own city specialists into town for speeches in the auditorium on the importance of vaccination and prevention, and began working tirelessly to get more funding for our own small hospital. When we lost him a few years later, the entire town mourned together. He was escorted to his final resting place in the ambulance he had gotten donated to our town by our nearest and largest neighbor. My senior year was subdued compared to theirs, but I shone in a different way that Hayate would continuously tease me about. I fell in love.

After confessing to Hayate and Anko I was given more advice then I ever thought I would require, but it was Hayate's that struck a fearful chord. Sometimes even small town communities couldn't forgive foibles that were against the law, as close to the line as they might have been. He recommended that I wait to reveal my crush until all possibility of either of us gaining legal censure for a relationship would be gone. It was around Christmas that I agreed to wait until after graduation to confess.

Throughout school I'd always been a popular one with the ladies. I'd experienced the crushes, the stalking, the notes and sly glances. I'd even given in to some of these and had enjoyed the title of 'best kisser' that I seemed to keep even into high school. I'd never felt the need to go all the way to a full blown relationship with any of these girls, but also seemed to be blessed with the ability to put them off in such a way that none of them minded. I look back now and consider myself to be very lucky. It wasn't until I finally felt that same heavy beat of my heart that I understood how some of the girls might have felt for me.

It was one of the intern teachers, one specializing in the higher sciences. Mr. Hatake was in his second year of teaching and was able to do so without a more experienced teacher present. He offered two different college level sciences, one each semester. Having excelled in chemistry since I was old enough to make a paper mache volcano I naturally signed up when I saw the Chemistry Course listed as one of his two. That would mean I would also be taking physics, but I relished the idea of some easy grades my last semester.

He was tall and lean, always wore proper pants and nice shirts unlike us locals in our daily jeans and t-shirts. His hair was what drew my attention first. I'd seen silver hair before, my auntie was well on her way to 70, but I'd neither seen that shade on as young a man as Mr. Hatake seemed to be, nor had I ever seen it lay around in messy spikes the way his did. We later learned that he was only twenty-three and that his hair was hereditary. His father had looked exactly the same.

The only thing that ever eclipsed my attention to how amazing his body looked was his eyes. He had a pair of piercing blue eyes, dark enough to remind me of the sky at twilight, but I'd seen them sparkle just as I saw the first stars sparkle in the summer. He could see through lies and weak excuses as easily as through a pane of glass. Mr. Hatake was smart. I even tentatively labeled him a genius as later in the year his mind came upon the realization of just why I was so good in chemistry once he noted some of my favorite mixes.

It's amazing what fun you can have with salt and dyes and different alcohols. The amount of trouble I could cause by rifling through my auntie's under the sink collection was enormous and often taken advantage of. As my Junior High graduation project she even allowed me to blow up an old, rundown shed out on the farm. When she realized where I had gained the information to make a pipe-bomb she almost became one of the most avid speakers against the internet being free at our local library. I remember having to call Hayate in to calm her down and bring it all to a rational closure after promising her I would win the town's science fair hands down and present her the ribbon in front of everybody along with mentioning search censors on the public computers as a requirement to keep all of our children safe during my thank you speech

It was early in the school year when I noticed something different about Mr. Hatake, or Mr. Kakashi as he wanted to be known to us students. It wasn't anything stupendous or even immediately alarming, but had it been directed towards anyone but me I would have either spoken to him personally or reported it. Since it was myself that I would notice his eyes lingering on occasionally I didn't mind at all. It wasn't until that Christmas that I fully realized why I didn't mind.

We'd sat near each other at the football games for the first few games. Anko, being the cheerful and outgoing person she was, had invited him to scoot over and join our small cheering section. Mr. Kakashi forced Hayate to explain all the rules to him and within a few games was yelling at the referees as loud as the rest of the students. Our friendship began then, in the autumn when I realized that even if he had watchful eyes he was still a very controlled individual. It wasn't until we saw him crack that stoic mask at the games that he actually began to become our favorite teacher. The older girls would flock to our bleacher seats to sit next to him and flirt. After Christmas that stopped completely when Hayate and I began running enough interference to allow him to sit unmolested by anyone other than myself, and my molestation was filled only with wide smiles and meeting thighs when I slid over a bit too far as I made room for more people.

I also saw him at my soccer games with Hayate and Anko cheering just as loudly as them whenever I nosedived into the ground with the ball securely flying away from my goal. They always seemed to get a kick out of me bleeding or being in pain. After the games Anko would jump through the crowd to administer whatever type of first aid my knees and elbows might have needed, but she always slyly let Mr. Kakashi wipe my face. Once she gave me a great excuse to 'accidentally' get a good armful of his shoulders, my chest flush with his and our noses nearly bumping after she spiked my lower back like a volleyball in an attempt to 'administer first aid to what looked like a bad scrape on my lower back.' I took the small bandage off later that night at home to see that the area underneath was perfectly fine. When I confronted her with my almost kiss she punched my shoulder and accused me of not taking advantage of the situation.

Even Hayate, as full of warnings as he was, would get in on the fun. Once he knew that I didn't mind the attention that he'd also noticed, and that I was actually planning on welcoming the attention as soon as it wouldn't get either of us in trouble; getting us innocently together became a high priority. My senior year in high school I sat for two detentions which were two more than I'd had the entire three years before that. Hayate had used his secret ways to find out when Mr. Kakashi was watching over the wayward students then rearranged a few schedules and pardoned a few students to make sure that I was the only student in the room. Unfortunately his ways of getting me detention opened the school's eyes to my not such a good boy ways. I was never allowed alone in the unlocked chemistry lab again. Hayate stayed home with very green skin for three days after that one and I proudly walked around school with my right hand dyed just as dark a green after having held him under the water in the bathtub. The second time took a few weeks to arrange as he made me late to my first class three times a week for three weeks straight. He had no problems as the newspaper took up his first period, but my trigonometry teacher wasn't as forgiving. To his dismay nothing ever happened during the detentions. I sat at the desk and wrote the essay Mr. Kakashi assigned me and then designed elaborate plans to torture Hayate.

The first few months after Christmas were torturous to me. I would blush and stammer when he was around, not wanting to look him in the eye at all. I'd always imagined what it would be like to be in love, but never with a guy. It was only my two friends taking the idea that I liked him so easily that helped me overcome the sudden shyness. It wasn't until spring break in late march that I became completely comfortable with the idea, and that was only after I got my first look at the real Kakashi, not Mr. Kakashi the teacher.

We'd spent our time befriending him during the school year enough to feel no guilt at dragging him to my auntie's farm for a few days to camp. Hayate had brought the idea up after finding out that Mr. Kakashi had done some backpacking during his own high school summers and earlier. It was our annual outing, just the three of us braving whatever weather the week long break would bring and camping under the stars without tents. It also usually involved whatever types of alcohol we could pilfer from home without getting caught.

Mr. Kakashi was hesitant until Anko jumped on his back and choked him into agreeing. She'd always been the best at getting him to do anything. It was her dare that had him wearing casual clothes to school for a week. I'll always remember how his teacher face turned a pretty pink when I gave him a good look up from his run down sneaker, and over those low slung jeans with obvious and comfortable looking worn spots, and then across that nicely muscled chest being shown off by a shirt that was just a bit too tight across the shoulders. Hayate had to step on my foot to keep me from drooling. Mr. Kakashi had acted as embarrassed as I normally did when I looked him straight in the eye and said he looked 'yummy.' Anko had dared me to say that and I won twenty bucks off of her that day.

The annual spring break camping trip that year was comprised of eight people total. To ease Mr. Kakashi's mind Hayate had me invite two friends from my soccer team, Izumo and Kotetsu. They brought their girlfriends and a cooler full of fun with both of their father's blessings. That year we allowed tents having two females of a more delicate nature than Anko had ever been along with us. The girls immediately bonded as girls do leaving us guys to gather enough firewood to last the two nights we planned to stay. Mr. Kakashi was just Kakashi for those days at his own request and continued to be so even when we went back to school. He laughed and ate with us, but only had one beer those entire three days. Izumo had shrugged as his offers for more were turned down and threw them my way. Nobody got crazily drunk, though Izumo's girl did fall asleep after two bottles. She missed out on the fun that night as she slept through the moonlight swim. Normally Hayate, Anko and I would have been drunk off our gourds and naked as the day we were born when we went for our ceremonial first swim, but we had scheduled more demure activities that year. We saved our yearly endurance swim in the still chilly waters for the night before we went back to school and wound up missing four days of that next week as my auntie nursed us all back to health in the farmhouse after catching cold.

Kakashi used the excuse that he hadn't brought anything to swim in that night in an attempt to get away from our plans, but Hayate had seen it coming. Knowing we were close in size he had ordered me to bring an extra pair of trunks which were duly pulled out and flung in our teacher's face. He kept a t-shirt on, but that first glimpse of him rising wet from the lake with the thin cloth clinging to him and I was glad the water was as cold as it was. It was that weekend, that night even that helped me realize this wasn't just a crush or even just normal teenage lust. I was easily able to complement Kotetsu on his nice catch and not feel a thing for the busty girl, even Anko attempted to show off her new two piece and I just laughed. My heart was set on Kakashi and him alone. I did give in to my body for a short time when I started a dunking fight. I treated him the same as I would any other friend I had plans against. I talked the girls into getting his attention and attacked from behind throwing myself entirely against him as we went down together. It was only in the dark water that I allowed my hands to linger, my finger tips to touch just a bit but not enough that I couldn't brush it off if he mentioned something. The girls were laughing hard when we both emerged from the water. Hayate immediately joined in and threw Anko like a sack of potatoes; Kotetsu claimed manly revenge for their duplicity and punished his girl the same way. I grinned and dared Kakashi to wreak his own havoc.

He did wreak havoc and nearly drowned me in the bargain, but I got to cling to his back while I drew in great breaths of air, maybe a few more than I needed to see properly again, but I wasn't going to complain about a good excuse to hold on to those shoulders.

After I dared him he had only looked at me with superiority in his eyes until he disappeared underneath the water with only a few small ripples to show where he'd been. It was only seconds before I felt his hands on my ankles. I'd been tricked by Hayate like that plenty of times and made my normal evasive maneuvers, but he had foreseen these and used them against me. As I dove under the water he wrapped an arm around my knees and spun me like an alligator does their prey then used what momentum he had left to push us both to the bottom. I was more concerned with the cold lake mud seeping into my shorts at the time than the fact that we were finally pressed chest to chest again, but later I remembered the flashes of touches, his cheek against mine, a hand on my thigh, possibly even a caress to my stomach, but I was flailing like any well trapped prey would have been so they might have been accidental. Later, in my dreams they definitely weren't. Later in my dreams that smile he'd given me afterwards had stayed there permanently as he dragged me back to a more shallow portion of the lake.

He pleaded out of the activity at the same time as me and we enjoyed getting warm and dry while the remaining four swimmers rediscovered their childhood in the form of a tire-swing that dropped them into the deepest part of the lake. I puttered around the fire stoking it back into a full flame while he took some dry clothes into the trees to change. Some careful maneuvering got me a good glimpse of pale skin just before he pulled on a dry shirt, but his pants had already been replaced by then. After he was done I took my own dry outfit and went not as far into the trees as he had. When I returned I managed not to look at him and instead just casually sat beside him on one of the logs we had nearby for seating purposes and flipped my head between my legs to towel my hair dry. It was only after I had draped the small towel over my shoulders that I felt some questing fingers on my scalp touching my old scars from the accident. I'll always remember the pain I saw in his eyes as I briefly told him what had happened. I knew then that his feelings for me were definitely something more than simple lust also.

After that he got chapter and verse on my life story with little prompting; that was also the only night he actually accepted the bottle of beer I held out to him. I occasionally managed to manipulate the conversation around to his own story even after the cold frozen swimmers returned. That was our last night out and Hayate, Anko and I stayed up to greet the sun after the pairs had settled into their own tents and Kakashi had wrapped up in his sleeping bag. It was only after Hayate was sure our teacher had gone to sleep that he mentioned the 'swimming accident' as it came to be known. I, being a gentlemen and not one to tell tales, had only laughed low and grinned as I opened another beer and started pointing out the spring constellations. Anko laughed and called me many names while Hayate accused me of being stingy and not offering him any succor from his own lack of a love life.

Three mornings after we three greeted the sun everyone returned to school without us. When I finally saw Kakashi again on Friday after a severe overdosing on cold medicine I immediately noticed a change in his behavior. He seemed more natural around me, even around all three of us. He laughed more often, smiled easier and began to throw harder assignments my way. It was also around this time that my college application letters began coming back. I enjoyed sharing them with him, the starkness of the denials or the warmth of an acceptance letter. He was pleased to find out that I had decided to become a teacher and talked to me often in warning about what to expect of the next few years. I just laughed and told him I wanted to teach younger kids, not the crazy, hormone driven teenagers he had decided to look after.

When all of my letters were finally accounted for I was amazed that I had been accepted to the teaching college I had only dreamed of. It was in a big city out of the state, a major university with an excellent course for us 'future sculptors of the world's future' as the letter had described us teachers in training. Auntie had shouted with joy as I paraded around the house like a three year old with his first finger painting. I showed the refrigerator, my auntie, the stove; I went into the next room and almost cried as I displayed my letter to the one picture of my parents proudly displayed in the parlor; it was of them on their wedding day. In my mind that day the gorgeous and mysterious smile that twitched on my mom's lips was for me and what she was imagining I would do when I finally graduated, and the pride shining in my dad's eyes was all for the son that would graduate from high school and then college; something he never gave himself a chance to do.

It was right there in the parlor that I told them all about Kakashi in my emotional state and wound up crying on my short auntie's shoulder as she hugged me with the acceptance I didn't know I was craving from her. She blamed her own tears on being an old woman then promptly sat me down with some tea and began grilling me on everything about my favorite teacher that I could possibly reveal, from how his pale skin looked like when wet and moonlit to the gleam in his eye as I continuously turned in his ever lengthening essay requests with a smirk on my face. My auntie finally met my dream man at graduation and shook his hand heartily with a twinkle in her eye. Afterwards she had nudged me in my ribs and congratulated me on my choice saying she would have gone after him herself if she'd been younger and that it was too bad I couldn't catch him by getting accidentally pregnant and carrying the gorgeous babies she was sure that man and I could have made if it was possible. I had laughed and loudly called my auntie a pervert in the middle of the group of hugging families.

Graduation turned out perfect for many of our class, but for a few more and most of the parents it was marred by recent happenings. For me, who those happenings touched deeply it was ruined by more than the fact that Anko had run off with her own favorite teacher without a word to any of us. Even as I stepped up on the platform to shake the principal's hand and received my diploma I was unable to forget what would happen that next morning. I remember glancing quickly at Kakashi as I passed him along with all the other teachers sitting in their assigned seats and clapping loudly. He had smiled proudly, but his eyes were sad.

When school had let out for the summer, we seniors immediately began celebrating. Anko had set up an elaborate camping trip with just the three of us again out by my auntie's lake. We celebrated that night with dreams of what we were going to do. It was only then that Hayate and I were finally able to realize just how deeply Anko had allowed her crush on Mr. Sannin to run. He was now just Orochimaru, and she knew he loved her the same way I knew Kakashi loved me. She had made plans to leave and find a job and an apartment in the same town he was returning to the next day. Mr. Sannin had pressing business that was forcing him home before the graduation ceremony. Hayate and I hadn't known how to take that, but it had prompted me to speak to Kakashi the next time I saw him when we went to pick up our robes from the school. I was glad we were alone in his room when he told me that it didn't surprise him Orochimaru was leaving so quickly, that the man had never been able to feel anything remotely human, and even Orochimaru's own cousin, Kakashi's mentor felt that his relative was a bit slimy. I told him about Anko's feelings and he had warned me to talk firmly to her, that Orochimaru was not a man to follow his heart and had always used people until they ran dry; then he tossed them aside like rubbish.

It was a week later, five days until the graduation ceremony that Anko disappeared with only a letter left on her pillow. I ran into Kakashi again at the school where both Hayate and I had been called to speak in front of the school board about Anko and Orochimaru's actions. We were able to truthfully tell them that we had no knowledge of any illicit actions between the two of them during the school year and that even though Anko had confessed to a crush earlier on in the school year she hadn't said a word about anything serious until after she had left the grounds for the last time. To our surprise we were asked to sit and wait while Kakashi was asked to stand up and also questioned. He verified that he did know Orochimaru before this and told them exactly what type of man he thought the teacher was, but expressed this was only his opinion and it was colored by a close relationship with Mr. Sannin's estranged cousin Jiraiya. It was after the council and attending parents took a few minutes to think over his revelations that my world began to collapse.

A mother stood up, not Anko's mother but the mother of one of next year's freshmen and a known troublemaker. She began speaking as if the town's thoughts were behind her completely and recommended the instant abolishment of the intern teaching program that Hayate had worked so hard to establish not wanting her little darling possibly abused by strange teachers who were brought in for only a year and not given a thorough background or personality check. After several minutes of ranting over the possible future danger she turned on Kakashi who had sat back down. He was accused by her of negligence in not warning the school what type of man Orochimaru had turned out to be. She spoke for a long time on how Mr. Sannin had led astray an innocent lamb of the town who now had her bright future ruined, and how it could have been prevented if Kakashi had only said a word. She demanded the school board terminate his contract immediately due to his relationship with the perpetrator of such a heinous misdeed. To my horror and the sound of my dream world crumbling around my ears I heard the council take a vote and agree knowing that they only did so to stop her from causing more problems.

Right in front of everybody Kakashi was informed that his contract, which was supposed to run for two years, was to be terminated early due to misconduct, and he was recommended to leave town as soon as possible so that any misdirected anger would not fall on him. Kakashi only nodded and said he could make arrangements to leave without any problem, but that he'd like to stay for graduation. The woman who had offered him an apartment here in town had bravely stood up and told him not to worry about the terms of his lease as he was being forced out of town by pompous asses who knew nothing about what a good man was. Kakashi had only stood, smiled and ceremoniously bowed in an old fashion towards the gathered parents. He said he would leave the morning after graduation, and I knew he would take my heart with him since there was no way for me to follow.

I had planned on asking him out to the farm that summer and offering him a room there. Most of the families in town did that same migration so the idea of him getting a part time job while waiting for the new school year to start was ridiculous even if he didn't know it yet. The town nearly shut down once the students were let out. My auntie had already approved the idea and even added some delicious ideas to my confession plan. I had wanted to bring him out to the lake again, this time just the two of us when the sun's heat warmed the waters well into the night. I had checked the calendar and circled the next full moon, three more weeks and my plans to confess would have happened out in the open under my favorite summer sky with not a single person around to hear other than the one I loved.

Now that plan was just a dream that still sparkled as its shattered pieces glimmered up at me from the linoleum tile floor our folding chairs stood on. Hayate had his hand over mine having an idea of what I was thinking as everyone began talking once the session was ended with a loud bang of the ceremonial school ruler. I didn't look up from the floor, but let Hayate lead me out to the soccer field away from the parents who were exiting the school. We sat in the bleachers as I tried not to cry. Hayate later told me that Kakashi had followed us, but kept his distance when it was obvious that I had broken down. They had shared a look, a sad one by Hayate's word, and then Kakashi had turned around and walked away.

Hayate chose not to inform me of that shared look until the night before graduation when I was still so depressed that I hadn't left my bedroom for more than a few minutes at a time since then. My aunt had begged him to talk to me and even suggested a desperate plan. Hayate had sat beside me on the bed and told me to go after him even if it was only for one night. I had stared blankly at him without saying a word until he smacked my head and left with a laugh saying I had better not be a virgin the day after graduation or he would be severely disappointed in me and never believe another story of my prowess in any relationship. I learned later that my auntie had used much the same trick to grab her husband which somehow didn't surprise me.

That afternoon after the graduation ceremony we all attended the reception. Hayate and I laughed like normal and searched until we found Kakashi sitting on some opened gym bleachers. He had a napkin full of uneaten cookies beside him and a half full cup of punch. We stayed there as his self appointed guards and watched carefully as a few students came to say hello and fewer parents came to say goodbye. He never said a word until Hayate joked that he should have spiked the punch since at the rate I kept having to get Kakashi refills, he would have been happily plastered and telling those people who were happy to see him go exactly where they could stuff their faulty logic. Kakashi had cracked a grin at that and threatened Hayate with dire consequences if he actually did decide to spike the punch because it wasn't actually needed in his case. Then he lifted the edge of his jacket enough for us both to see a telltale silver flash peeking out of an inner pocket. We both laughed at the idea of our teacher having a flask of alcohol on school grounds which was explicitly against the rules. He had laughed and said it was one of the few ways he got through the entire year without strangling one or the both of us. Hayate had laughed uproariously at that, but I got quiet and began to think back to all the odd things Kakashi had done that might have been caused by a few sips here and there and what a few more sips at the right moment might have caused.

After a loud sigh at all the missed opportunities I shook my own almost empty cup of punch and demanded some assistance with all the headaches he had caused me. He just laughed and said it was already empty so I would have to rely on the sugar water to ease my pains. Hayate could only groan as we continued to flirt in ever broadening words, never mentioning anything straight out, but I knew Kakashi was answering on the same level.

It was evening when I set out from my house. My auntie had watched me leave with a smile and said she would leave the back door unlocked. I had only smiled and informed her I hoped she would have already woken up and unlocked the front door by the time I returned home. I left the house with her laughter in my ears and a smile on my face as I made my way on foot to the address Hayate had passed to me earlier. Kakashi had leased out a furnished garage apartment from one of the eccentric old biddies of the town. It was a bit of a walk, but the heavy air after a late afternoon storm seemed to calm me as I continued on my way. I arrived at his door on silent but mud covered feet and paused for a moment of contemplation before I knocked. I had all my words ready, all my excuses and reasons and questions lined up and ready to be brought out if he tried to dissuade me. It was only my own courage that kept me from knocking immediately as it seemed to be swiftly turning tail to go and hide in the bushes. After minutes of standing there in the dark listening to the locusts serenade each other I touched the wood of the door with my fingertips. On an impulse, a crazy, momentary urge I made a fist and knocked. The sound was loud in the quiet night and I could suddenly hear sounds from inside. It took only ten heartbeats for the door to begin opening and another five after that for me to see him standing there in front of me illuminated from behind by a dim lamp. We stared at each other with serious eyes asking unspoken questions until finally one of his own was answered to his approval and he stepped aside to let me in. He didn't say a thing as I stepped farther in and bent to remove my muddy sneakers. As I stood with sneakers in hand I smiled and finally spoke.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, just play with them.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Life in a Small Town  
Genre: Naruto  
Warnings & Pairings & Characters: Yaoi & Kakairu & as many characters as fit into the story properly while keeping to their ages  
Summary: Iruka in first person, a quick rundown of his life, AU Present day  
Status: WIP, unbeta'd

Chapter 2

"I should probably leave these on the tile here," I explained holding up my muddy shoes. "I wouldn't want to ruin your carpet the night before you leave."

I watched as Kakashi shrugged. "That's alright," he said evenly not explaining further whether it was alright to leave my shoes there or to ruin the carpet. I placed them down by the door, ever the good boy that had been well trained by my auntie. I proceeded to straighten up and look around then with a smile and a bit more courage.

"I've never seen your place, Kakashi. I always thought it would look more studious." It was a nice little apartment if small. Through two open doors at opposite ends of the far wall I could see both a stove denoting the kitchen and a bed. The room the front door opened into was furnished with a small plaid couch and an old TV on one end and a desk complete with computer on the other. "Shouldn't there be more textbooks scattered around," I asked as I stepped forward.

Kakashi followed behind me. "I've been packing," he explained. "But even before that I liked to keep the place neat." He waved towards the couch. "Have a seat, would you like anything to drink? I have tap water, cold tap water, and an orange soda."

I requested the cold tap water and watched as he walked into the kitchen. As he was busy I took the time to get comfortable on the couch and noticed that everything was exceptionally clean. He really had been getting ready to leave and as any good tenant would do, had made sure he was leaving the place looking good. I smiled sadly thinking I had missed out on his little personal touches which were probably packed up in three taped up cardboard boxes I finally noticed over by the computer desk. I wondered what more those pictures and mementos would have revealed to me about the man, but I could only square my shoulders and swallow my sigh at the lost opportunity.

He returned with two disposable plastic cups, a good choice seeing as he was leaving the next morning and offered one to me. I accepted with a smile and made a small show of moving over on the couch in an attempt to make sure he had enough room to sit comfortably. We sat there sipping until he finally broke the silence, and he did it with a generic and safe question.

"So, when will you be leaving for college?"

I took the opportunity and happily expounded on my plans. He knew most of it already, but letters and phone calls had arrived since we had last talked of future events. I now had an assigned dorm room and the basic information on my roommate, another freshmen also going for a teaching certificate. I told him how auntie was even considering purchasing me some transportation seeing as how I'll be in a city where walking everywhere wasn't an option. I watched him laugh as I hoped for a motorcycle but knew it would probably be some old and dented car from the used auto lot.

He told me about his own first vehicle experience, an old and dented truck his neighbor had sold to him for a summer of severe yard work on an empty lot he owned. The truck had been hiding in a shed on the lot and was perfectly usable if a bit rusted. Kakashi had me laughing at the explanation of being forced to wear rain gear inside the truck on certain days due to an unfortunate rust hole placed perfectly above his head.

We went on like that talking about little things or laughing at each other's stories for hours. There were so many lines we hadn't yet crossed in our friendship, but that one line I wanted to cross kept getting farther and farther away as he went on about classes and the job his mentor had waiting for him to come back to. My courage, still hiding behind the bush, but not as desperately before, was able to peek an eye out and sigh in relief as it seemed Kakashi had no intention of advancing and I knew the moment hadn't come yet.

We started speaking about Hayate and Kakashi was given his entire medical history as well as I knew it, which was pretty good. He expressed his concern over his health and what he'd seen diseases like that do, but I brushed it off. Long ago Hayate and I had made a pact to only worry about what his body was doing to him when he was finally unable to function anymore. After years of telling the same thing to myself, I could easily tell Kakashi with a straight face that we knew it would kill him one day, but that day was in the future and not today. Hayate would live to see tomorrow's sunset and that was all we concerned ourselves with other than never getting him another cold like the one that kept him out of school for two weeks after spring break.

We started into our childhood foibles and I got some interesting tales of how Kakashi and cats don't get along very well. He told me about a favored pet he'd lost just a year ago, a pug he'd called Pakuun. I laughed and mourned that auntie had never let me keep anything larger than fish, though I had tricked her and grown one fish to an enormous size once, we had eventually sold it back to the pet store where it had reigned as king of the tank for many years until finally dying.

A soft clock chimed in his bedroom and he coughed in sudden embarrassment. We'd been sitting and talking for three hours and it was now midnight. I watched him stand up and rub his hands on his thighs trying not to look too closely at those arms so nicely shown off by an old t-shirt. I listened with sad eyes as he said it was bed time for him since he had an early morning, but neither of us had yawned the entire time. We were both too focused on each other to think about being sleepy. My courage, still behind the ever convenient bush, prodded me to a small action as we walked to the door

I looked down at my shoes and then back up at him, so gorgeous and standing within easy reaching distance. "I came to make sure you left happy," I told him. "I don't think the town treated you right, and I wanted to make sure you didn't hold it against any of us."

He shrugged and leaned against the wall of the small foyer. "I'm only not liking the people I shouldn't like, Orochimaru for being the man he is and that woman. Everyone else I've met in this town will remain in my good graces," he said. "Even after I leave."

"And that's tomorrow morning," I noted sadly. "I wanted to invite you out to auntie's farm again over the summer. We have strawberries to eat and the lake feels much better when it's not freezing you to death. There are fireflies in late summer and fields full of nothing to run around in."

"It sounds nice," he said and smiled.

"It is," I agreed. "And it's where I would have wanted to say goodbye before I left, but now I won't get that chance. I still want to say goodbye properly," I told him and watched his eyes widen almost imperceptibly. "Properly the way an adult can do, not a student." My courage roared softly from behind its bush and I stepped closer to him. It was enough that I could touch him and I did. It was a small touch, a small kiss; it was just our lips touching, not moving over each other as I'd done with girls, not pressing or fighting for more. It was just a meeting that my mind kept saying now had to end. I pulled back and touched a hand to his chest laying my palm flat against the skin warmed cotton shirt he wore.

"I've been wanting to do that,' I confessed to him and allowed my forehead to join my palm against his warm chest. I could feel his heart beating, his lungs moving. I took a deep breath full of his scent; just soap and cleaners from earlier, but underneath was something warm and spicy. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but I had to take this chance, Kakashi, or I would have hated myself for letting it pass."

I felt a hand on my left arm then another on my right. "I'm not uncomfortable," he said softly and I felt his fingers tighten into my skin. "But I would like my own chance."

I looked up at him and saw those blue eyes gleaming. I smiled and brought my other hand to his waist as he lowered his head and kissed me. This wasn't just a light touch, not a soft meeting, but a showing of want and need as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into him. I melted into him as his tongue traveled across my bottom lip and easily opened my mouth to allow my own to meet his.

I lost track of time as we kissed not caring if the clock chimed another midnight. I never wanted those lips to leave mine, but they eventually did and I could feel him panting as he leaned his head back against the wall exposing his throat to me. I gave in to my wants and broke his hold on my arms so I could easily run my hands down and up his chest again. They finally found a resting place in his hair loosely holding his head still as I licked that soft skin underneath his jaw and felt him shiver as that innocent lick was followed by a small nip. I quickly attached my mouth to those lovely neck muscles and was rewarded by a groan erupting from his mouth and his hands on my ribs.

"Iruka," he said softly and then again as his hands tightened. It was only a moment later that our roles were reversed and he had me up against the wall pressing into me with abandon as he attacked my own throat. I cried out and cared not a bit that my body was almost completely depending on him for support against the wall as he had lifted me for easier access. With great effort I forced my chin down and attached our mouths together again. His hands were up against me; pressing me into the wall, but mine were now perfectly free to roam as far as they could, which wasn't much since they were now stuck above his shoulders, but I ran my fingers over as much of him as I could and relished every sound he made. He shifted slightly and ran a hand down my side and around my thigh then pulled my leg up. I instinctively wrapped it around his waist and almost cried out at the feel of our hips meeting like old friends. For the first time I felt an excited man pressing against me and it only strengthened my own feelings. I lifted my other leg on my own and latched them around his waist. He called my name again and freed his hands depending on his hips pressing into mine to keep us balanced. His hands immediately ran up and underneath my shirt making me moan when they reached my nipples and softly pinched and rolled over them. My hips bucked and I cried out as he lifted my shirt and leaned down to attach his mouth to my chest running his tongue over as much skin as he could. I called out his name as his busy hands traveled down to cup and caress over my butt and thighs. As I continued to strain against him with wordless noises he pulled back and breathed against my neck.

"Iruka," he whispered. "Iruka," he called my attention again even as he licked a long swath of my neck. "I want my chance, Iruka," he told me. "But I need to know how far you'll let me take this."

I looked him in the eye and smiled wide. He moved back and I felt myself sliding down on the wall so quickly disentangled my legs for their needed support. My eyes closed at the feel of just that slight movement as our bodies moved against each other but opened again quickly to stare into his blue eyes. "I came here to give us both a chance," I admitted. "I don't think either of us should worry about limits right now." I kissed him softly again and pulled away with a lick to his lips. "I came here to stay the night, Kakashi. I'm willing to do whatever you wanted to take a chance and do to me."

Kakashi's eyes widened and he pulled away from me completely. I stood there leaning against his wall panting slightly, my face flushed with emotion and my lips red from his kisses. He lifted a hand to travel fingertips over my mouth and grinned. "Do you really know what you're asking, Iruka? There are a lot of things I'd like to do to you, most of them involve you underneath me on my bed," he moved closer, "in my shower," another inch, "on my couch even." He was against me again, but not pressing. "Iruka, you came to me so I won't mince words. I want to fuck you, Iruka. I want to feel you around me as I fill you up."

My heart started beating faster just from his words, but he wasn't stopping. Deep inside I understood he was giving me a chance to run, but my courage had emerged from behind its bush and was roaring with all the drive of an eighteen year old hormone offered his first chance to touch the forbidden. My eyes closed as I attempted to imagine how he would feel straining above me, both of us naked and our hot skin sliding against each other, but a small niggle of nervousness still existed. "Maybe," I whispered and licked my lips then continued in a stronger voice. "Maybe we could begin with your couch?"

He grinned lecherously and grabbed my wrist to pull me away from the wall and led me backwards like a dancer. "On my couch where I've imagined you just calmly sitting next to me, maybe some cuddling, definitely some groping." He spun us around and we collapsed together on the couch with me straddling his lap. Immediately his hands began roaming and naturally traveled up under my shirt again, but this time they traveled further up my arms so I lifted them and my shirt slid off with ease. I watched his eyes eat me up and then his tongue wet his lips as he contemplated his next move. I laughed and lifted his chin. "You've seen me without a shirt before," I said as I chuckled. My hands fumbled down to his waistband and began pulling. "It's me who should be looking at you like that." He laughed low and leaned forward as I slid his shirt off and began to explore that never before seen expanse of skin. He was pale, so pale, but perfect in my eyes. I ran my hands over him freely then gave into my own wants and awkwardly leaned down to lick him. I bit his shoulder and scooted backwards on his lap for better access. It was when I bit at his pale pink nipples that he moaned and bucked underneath me, his hands finally moving into action and grabbing at my thighs then moving inward. I gasped and groaned and kissed him as he finally touched me and caressed that cloth covered bulge. I felt his hands on the button to my jeans and then the zipper. They then traveled around and slid the heavy denim down on my hips just enough for him to delve around and underneath them as he grabbed my butt again and slid me back up against him. We stayed there, his hands on my back, my lips on his for some time just enjoying each other.

Kakashi pulled another trick after he got impatient and I was suddenly on my back in the couch cushions with him groping and pulling above me. My hips were pulled upwards and my jeans were now around my knees. I laughed and wiggled as he pulled them the rest of the way off and slid a hand from my bare ankle up and under my boxers. I stopped laughing as he touched hardened flesh and only sank back down in pleasure as he leaned over me. "So hard, Iruka, so needy."

"All for you," I gasped out just before his tongue invaded my mouth. His hand left me quickly only to each down again from underneath the waistband for easier access. My own hands started pushing down at the elastic and were soon assisted by him until we had me completely naked on his couch. He braced himself above me and looked down with a wide grin. "All this is mine," he asked with wide eyes. "All for me and looking lovely against the green plaid."

I blinked in confusion then looked at the couch cushion I was leaning against and laughed. "Focus, Kakashi," I admonished him as my hands went to his own jeans. "I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be the only one naked here." I knew he was watching my face while I unzipped his pants and reached my hand in to feel him. His eyes saw mine widen as I pulled him from his pants and saw him for the first time. I could only hope he saw lust in there and not a single spark of hesitation. I sat up as best I could and started pushing his pants down. With a squirm and a bit of assistance we quickly had him naked and once more between my legs. I grabbed on to him with arms and legs and just held him. I'd had months to figure out I wanted him like this, months to get used to idea that I wanted his naked body against mine, but actually having my dreams come true was an altogether mind numbing experience.

I think he could tell and began moving accordingly. He began nuzzling and licking whatever skin he could reach and slowly rolling his hips against mine. It didn't take too long for me to jump back on the 'I want to jump you' wagon and loosened my death grip around him. It was easy to give into the waves of pleasure he incited with every rub and kiss. I could feel him against me just as rock hard as I was myself and occasionally jutting into my stomach. My hand moved downwards and slid over his butt in an attempt to pull him closer as I felt those surging waves building up to an unbearable point. I gasped out his name and arched backwards as I came and only had to wait a few moments more to feel him finish between our bodies also.

We lay there on the couch in the quiet for several minutes just listening to each other breathe. Finally he lifted his torso and cradled my red cheeks in his hands. The kiss he gave me was amazing and full of enough emotion to make me melt all over again, but he ended it after too short a time and grinned down at me. "We get to try the shower next."

That night was amazing. I was fully indoctrinated into all areas of sex under his masterful hands and reveled in both the feelings he gave me and the ones I gave him. It was only when I woke the next morning with the odd feeling of someone next to me that I fully thought about what was going to happen now and how I had complicated things beyond measure. His arms were circled around me holding me close, his face hidden in the crook of my neck. I knew if I moved I would wake him up so just lay there and enjoyed the warmth, but my unconscious waking movements must have begun his own as his eyes were soon peeking open and I could feel him smiling against my skin.

"You weren't a dream," he said sleepily as he kissed my neck. "That's really nice."

I could only laugh and roll until I was facing him. He whined softly and once more snuggled into me. "I never imagined you as a cuddler," I mentioned while poking his shoulder.

He yawned and patted the arm I had thrown over him. "Have to take advantage of you now," he said. "I won't have you to do anything with after today."

My muscles tensed up and I couldn't say a word as he lifted his head and looked at me with serious eyes. "Iruka, I'll give you my phone number in the city. You should call if you miss your next period. I'll take full responsibility for getting you pregnant."

I could only blink, sputter and fail at any and all attempts to actually speak to him as he rolled onto his back and laughed at me. I lifted myself up and pounced on him causing myself to take a second to wince at the discomfort in my lower back. "You're an idiot, Kakashi," I told him with a smile after I got comfortable. "But for right now you're an idiot who's underneath me." I watched an eyebrow rise in speculation and chuckled. "There's at least one thing you didn't give me a chance to do last night that I still dreamed of doing to you." I licked his shoulder and started scooting down on the bed. He'd been a wonderful lover last night making sure I reached orgasm several times, but I had noted that whenever I tried to repeat the same actions I enjoyed receiving he'd pulled me back and melted away any of my intentions with a mind altering kiss. Now, as I had him underneath me and still muzzy from sleep I was going to take advantage of a man's natural morning complaint.

As I looked down at him and smiled at his occasional twitches I recalled the feeling of that hard length inside me the night before, slipping in and out and rubbing up against nerves I hadn't known I had. I remembered how he'd dragged me back into the bathroom for a second time and cleaned us both up while I just leaned against him or the wall or whatever was convenient. I looked back up at him and grinned just before I licked the tip. I watched him gulp and take a deep breath then focused on the task I'd given myself. I'd never been on the receiving end of a blow job before Kakashi had sucked me in the shower last night after our first time on the couch, but I remembered enough from that to rub my tongue along the entire length as I used one hand to keep him still and another to rub and play all over his sensitive skin.

I felt him buck up and call my name as I explored how far down I could easily take him and then again as I braced myself and pushed my mouth down further. I pulled up and bobbed my head several times over the thick tip and licked it again. A quick glance up showed me his open and panting mouth as he started to beg me not to stay down there and come give him a kiss again. I laughed and pushed his hips into the bed. "I don't care what you want right now," I told him. "You came in my ass last night and now I want you to come in my mouth." I smirked at his surprised expression and ran my tongue over his slitted head while keeping my eyes on his and watched those piercing blue eyes beg me to continue in any way I saw fit as long as I didn't stop.

I focused again on my task and the careful use of teeth as a stimulant which had him crying out. It was only a few more minutes before I found a good rhythm of licking and bobbing and then swallowing as much of him as I could that I felt comfortable continuing as he made tortured sounds that resembled my name and other heated words. In a short time afterwards I felt a difference in him that told me he was close and I prepared myself for what would soon be coming. Within seconds of feeling that final hardening of his shaft I felt a shot of hot and salty liquid hit the roof of my mouth and stopped moving as I made sure I wouldn't choke. As soon as he finished giving me my wanted taste I continued my movements at a slower rate and with more sucking involved until I felt him softening in my mouth. I then lifted my head to see him lying against his pillow in utter relaxation with his eyes closed and his hands still gripping the sheets to either side.

I scooted back into a cuddle position beside him with an arm thrown across his chest and my head resting on his shoulder while he sprawled. He surprised me by grabbing a handful of my hair and pulling my face towards his to kiss me and then kiss me again. I could only give in as he rolled into me and invaded my mouth with his tongue. I heard him groan and answered it with one of my own as I felt his other hand slide up my side the back down to the very evident hard on I was now left with. He touched and grabbed then slid a fingertip across the tip to gather some of the pre-cum already already dripping. He stopped kissing me long enough to bring that moistened fingertip to his mouth and make me watch him suck it. I shuddered and didn't let my eyes stray from watching his mouth as he then moved forward and kissed me again as open mouthed as he had left me. Our tongues rubbed and fought in that kiss and I moaned low when he pulled away again.

"Remember that, Iruka," he told me. "That was what we taste like, and that's something I thought I would only ever get to dream about." I knew I was blushing as he leaned over and our foreheads met. "Now," he continued. "Let me thank you again for allowing so many of my dreams come true."

I had watched Kakashi promise to leave the morning after graduation, but I didn't help him carry his boxes down to the car until almost noon, and I kissed him up against the car not caring who saw and what they would say about it. I hid my eyes as I declined his offer to catch a better breakfast than the last of his frozen waffles. I knew that it was time to start letting go. His car was beeping due to the open driver door when I grasped his wrist for the last time and finally looked him in the eye again.

"I would go with you if I could," I told him. "But I know I have my whole life ahead of me right now." He touched a hand to my cheek and I smiled bravely even though I could feel tears trying to build in my eyes. "I won't ask you to wait for me, Kakashi," I said softly. "I don't even know if our relationship would have survived college years."

He laughed at me and wiped at my eyes. "I think it would have, Iruka. In fact, I know it would have, but if you think it's better to part cleanly right now then we'll do that. I understand," he whispered onto my lips. "But you have my phone number if you change your mind."

We kissed again and said goodbye. I stood at the foot of the stairs leading to what used to be his garage apartment and watched him drive away. I don't remember how I made it home after that, but I've always remembered the strong drink my auntie had ready for me when I got there. Hayate came later that afternoon to check up on me and teased me into a sense of normality. He let me know how proud he was of me and then offered himself as a rebound lover. He was laughing as he was thrown out of my room, and I know he and my auntie conferred while I went back to sleep holding the small paper that Kakashi had written what would be his home number in the city until he found his own apartment again.

I planned on calling him after a week, but it didn't happen until almost a month later. Hayate relapsed and spent three weeks lying bored to tears in a sterile room while I stayed nearby and read him the daily newspapers from all over that he had delivered to him. The night before he was released into a non-sterile room we held a karaoke contest through the speaker we were forced to use to communicate. His pulmonary specialist won with a heartfelt rendition of an Alanis Morisette song done in a falsetto that should not have been heard from as old a bewhiskered man as he was, but Hayate and I were both stunned into silence and I calmly passed the six pack of beer his way.

When I finally did try calling it turned into a game of phone tag. I continuously reached the answering machine voiced by a crazy man named Jiraiya who I remembered being mentioned as Kakashi's mentor at his teaching college. I know he did try to call me back and got regular updates from my auntie whenever he did as she kept him on the phone with enough questions to fill up a notepad. I found out that Jiraiya was taking him on a midsummer vacation to the northeast and the many historical towns there for three weeks in July, and that he had been in contact with Orochimaru and asked about Anko. I was grateful that he was pursuing my errant friend as she hadn't bothered to contact anybody; not her parents, Hayate or me.

I moved into my college dorm in early August and tried calling one more time before I left town. I was curious over the change in the answering machine message change which now sounded hurried and worried as Jiraiya mentioned that both he and Kakashi lived there. It wasn't until after October when neither any of my calls had been returned nor had my aunt received any at her house that I gave up. My freshman year was finished in a funk and I was offered a summer job through the college working in their records department. I returned home for a week to say hello and check up on Hayate who had been confined to classes at the community college by his doctors who wanted to keep him close.

My second year I overloaded on courses and wound up spending the winter break either drunk with Hayate or asleep. We finally got word from Anko during the holiday season. She sent us both a glittery Christmas card and actually called her parents to inform them that yes, she was alright and now had her own place and a job that was supporting her. We all heaved a sigh of relief and fumed at her lack of a return address or any contact information whatsoever.

It was during the spring semester of my second year that I was introduced to some life changing individuals in the form of a foster home full of kids. I was put in charge of the rambunctious seven year olds and soon learned why they chose the greenies for that task. I thought I would be learning how to handle a variety of childish personalities and then be able to smile proudly as they all began to work together as proof that I was meant to be a great teacher one day. Instead I became the worst dictator the world had ever seen and even learned that my knowledge of knots and bleaching chemicals was extremely useful in the workforce.

My nemesis turned out to be two boys, mortal enemies that attempted to outdo each other in their ability to make my life miserable. When I was asked my secret of control by the upper classman who had been assigned that class last year as six year olds I could only laugh hilariously and ask him if he'd ever paid close attention to the rules of what a teacher could and could not do to their students. When he said that he paid explicit attention to those rules knowing they would save him a lawsuit in the future I laughed again and said I'd never read them. I spent my evenings devising new tortures for that pair to endure together and even some the class would destroy them both for putting them through.

I spent my summer in the city again taking a job at the foster home and gaining valuable experience if not a big paycheck. It was during that time that I met my next relationship which turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes I hoped to ever make.

Mizuki was assigned my class of degenerates for the summer having signed up for the summer version of my spring course. I let him suffer the first day, but gave pity that afternoon and took him aside for a cup of coffee in the lounge and told him the ins and outs of the crazies I had fondly begun calling my own after three months of mutual torture. They occasionally behaved for him, but more than often he took my advice and made them run laps until 'he' was tired.

We started going out for drinks in the evening and Mizuki found out all about my life in a small farming town. Auntie forced me to invite him home for the winter break my third year and kindly waited until he was being conveniently distracted by Hayate to inform me of her misgivings about him. I listened to her as I always did, but brushed her ideas off later as a clash of personalities between the two. Mizuki told me that he didn't think she liked him very much, but I continued to ease his mind. He would smile so nicely and hold me tight that it was a simple thing to forget any bad words had passed through his lips.

I was assigned my crazies again that spring semester, and now dealt with the wily eight year olds like any old hand of a teacher would. They were actually calm for me most of the time, but would slyly go nuts whenever anyone else walked into the room to allow me my high recognition as the most amazing cattle tamer the home had ever seen. I realized the feelings every teacher has as I found which students I was most fond of and began guarding my actions around them in an attempt to stop any favoritism from showing, but it was hard when dealing with my two favorite trouble makers and their 'clans.'

Mizuki and I were separated for that next summer; he stayed to catch some more summer classes while I returned to the farm and showed off my unripened strawberry eating skills again. When we met again in the fall I began noticing some discrepancies in his words and actions that finally hit me as odd. Not having had much schooling in the ways of homosexual relationships I cornered one of the permanent teachers at the foster home who was obvious about his orientations and laid it all out for him. All he did was invite me out to a bar for a night to ease my mind and introduce me to the scene he said I should have been playing around in for the last three years.

Twenty minutes after my arrival, welcome, and subsequent push towards a well hidden corner niche I was surrounded by new friends introduced by way of Genma who slid in right next to me and started talking. He set his own partner, Raidou to my other side in what he explained was a protective maneuver from the idiots that frequented the bar. I soon truly realized why that protection was needed and who he was calling an idiot as a familiar head of hair started showing up on the dance floor; and those ever so familiar arms were nicely wrapping around someone who was not me. Genma wouldn't let me leave saying I had to see the entire game played out. He told me how Mizuki had been a constant occupant to the dance floor, the bar, and even the backrooms since he had started school three years ago. He had even spoken to him a few times himself and definitely heard about him from others. Mizuki seemed to be in constant need of companionship due to a 'little wifey' who never allowed him any fun. My face was held in a very tight emotion which my students would have easily recognized and already bolted out of the windows in a futile attempt to avoid whatever words were about to erupt out of my mouth.

Genma turned out to be a much better friend than I ever thought he could have been in such a quick time. He arranged everything that night even down to Mizuki being brought over to the table for what he thought was a free drink from what turned out to be the owner of the bar, Raidou. His eyes when he met mine were scared then I almost laughed as I watched his defensive wall slam into place and he began mentally sorting out all the excuses as to why he had been found doing what he was doing. Strangely enough I only said one word to him, but Raidou later complimented me on my tone and facial expression as being perfect; that mixture of utter disgust, hate and promised misery was exactly what was needed to make him walk away and stay away permanently. Mizuki never spoke to me again after those two parting words, my name from his mouth and "Goodbye," from mine. It was only later that I realized both Genma and Raidou each had placed a restraining hand on either of my thighs and that the two drinks I was cautiously served afterwards were very low in their alcohol content allowing me my anger without fear of drunken vengeance and regrettable mistakes.

My fourth year, which looked to be my last year at the college, was turning out to be every bit as enjoyable as my senior year of high school after getting rid of Mizuki. I continued to meet up with Genma and Raidou, and was introduced to several nice young men who were very good at necking and expected nothing less than a few sweet kisses over the bar and good conversation as I sat a few evening shifts behind the counter to fill in for Raidou's continuous bartender problems. Auntie requested I invite the pair home for visit during winter break and I was pleased when they said yes. Hayate was amazed and oh so curious even if completely straight. He used the excuse of having to live vicariously through my own and other's lives to hole them up in Auntie's kitchen with enough questions to fill his entire library anew. I was sure that by the time their four day visit was over Hayate could have easily taken over the running of Raidou's bar and given Genma tips on how exactly to defuse his partner's constant annoyance over what were called childish actions with a few words instead of an enjoyable toss up against the wall which always ended in a loud necking session and most times louder sex. The two of them, Hayate and Raidou really hit it off well together as did Genma and my Auntie. He would continue to call her 'Old Biddy' as she fed him fresh baked brownies and forced him to hand mix a batch of Swedish meatballs, but every evening would find them sitting on the porch out in the cold with a stomach warming drink in hand as they talked about 'everything big and nothing important' as they would say when we asked.

It was near the end of the spring semester that Hayate took a turn for the worse and Raidou drove me home in time to enjoy one last week with my friend. This time the hospital hadn't bothered putting him in the sterile room knowing it wouldn't have done any good and would have kept us too far away from him for everyone's comfort. I would stay the days in his room again reading him his papers while listening to him struggle to breathe. Raidou spelled me a few times and refused to tell me what they talked about. There was never a point when the doctors weren't truthful to him in front of either friends or family, but it was still a surprise when his specialist once more begged him to rescind his 'do not resuscitate' order. Hayate told me that night about his choices, die with a bit of dignity without surviving on a machine or wait for a miracle transplant that his sick body probably wouldn't take kindly to much less be allowed by the hospital anyway due to his immunity disorder. I could only agree with his choices and drank enough coffee to destroy my entire future, but I was awake when he grabbed my hand in the wee hours of the morning and finally took one last breath with a smile on his face and his eyes pleasantly closed. I waited for a few minutes then calmly stood to go find his mother who had left the room earlier to catch a nap in the empty room next door.

Due to his DNR orders he'd had the alarm on his heart monitor disabled so the entire floor was able to hear her wail as she entered her son's silent room. I waited until the doctor arrived and answered a few questions then left as my friend was no longer there to keep me. I was asked no questions as I opened the door to the guest bedroom at home and crawled into bed with Raidou who now also had Genma with him. The two men stuffed me between them for protection just as they had that night in the bar and held me as I cried.

To Be Continued…

A/N: second chapter down and hardships galore. My rule of writing.. think up something horrible for the characters to face and then make it worse. I hope you enjoyed it :D


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Life in a Small Town  
Genre: Naruto  
Warnings & Pairings & Characters: Yaoi & Kakairu & as many characters as fit into the story properly while keeping to their ages  
Summary: Iruka in first person, a quick rundown of his life, AU Present day  
Status: WIP, unbeta'd

Chapter 3

I didn't return to finish my spring semester after Hayate died, and instead stayed home with Auntie. My counselor was understanding as long as I sent in the appropriate forms with the appropriate signatures. I was persuaded to come back to the city for the summer and work once more as a summer teacher at the foster home. Having the kids around made me smile more than I felt like doing and I thought I was back to normal by the time the fall semester of my fifth year started as I retook my final classes.

It was during a going away party just before winter break and my graduation that I found an opportunity to honor my friend's memory in such a simple but heartfelt way. Hayate and I had spoken about it before, how our town seemed to be suffering what the news called brain drain. The children were growing up and moving on and the farms were being sold. Many of the families that we had grown up with had sold out and moved. I had told him about the many children at the home, how new ones were brought in weekly and so few ever left. As I sipped my punch and watched the kids run around on the playground I thought how nice it would be if they could do the same thing on the elementary school playground in my town and an idea was born.

It didn't take much to grab pamphlets on adoption and foster homes and even less to stuff them into a suitcase to return home with. I spoke with the matron of the home and then my Auntie who found out when the next town meeting was. That next January I stood up in front of my town with my diploma and teaching certificate proudly displayed on the parlor wall of my Auntie's house and begged for understanding, generosity and even charity from everyone. I told stories of my kids and the other, older classes; made mention of the smaller and smaller elementary classes and how these children all needed homes. My announcement was followed by a complaint about the sewer system in our small downtown area and a request for funding to update the library's software. The town had seemed receptive to my idea, but only five people came up and asked me for more information.

My Auntie organized a 'field trip' and we set out to return to my college town. There were three other mothers with us so we enjoyed a nice long drive in a minivan borrowed from Auntie's church for just such a purpose. Genma and Raidou met us at an inexpensive motel and charmed all the ladies with their polished city ways and knowledge of a nice yet inexpensive restaurant nearby. They went along with us to the home the next as Genma still worked there and had fun watching the women play with all the children who seemed to know instinctively what those ladies were there for.

I had already arranged with the matron to have an adoption lawyer handy with all the startup paperwork and was beaming as I watched the women separately sit down with the kind looking lady and ask serious questions. Auntie and I spent our time with the kids and I introduced her to my crazies, most of which were now ten or going on. A few familiar faces were missing, but my two troublemakers were still holding glaring contests out by the swings. They were actually polite as I introduced Auntie to them and answered her questions as honestly as I'd ever heard either of them speak to an unknown adult.

It wasn't until a few months later when the approval letters were coming in and the ladies we'd taken to the foster home were all planning a return trip in two vans that I saw some interesting mail with my name on it. When I opened the large orange envelope I nearly choked and ran to Auntie in the kitchen.

"Two of them," I yelled at her. "How did you do this without any signatures from me, and you're supposed to go through an extensive personality and home life test and I don't even have a wife!"

She had laughed and pointed to her name beside mine as legal guardians of two foster boys, not full adoption. She'd gone behind my back and managed to get those two troublemakers tied to me as permanently as she said the boys had wanted to be. I threw the papers into the air and screamed then laughed. Through duplicity it now seemed I was going to be a father. When I saw the matron again she only smiled and said she'd personally approved me bypassing several layers of red tape and idiots. I was still in shock, but perfectly willing to do my best and assured her of that.

Sasuke and Naruto were anxiously waiting together when Auntie and I arrived. Their small suitcases were easily packed into the trunk of our car and another box full of paperwork on each of them slid in with sad room to spare. I introduced Genma and Raidou to my new family that night at another nice restaurant that Raidou had recommended and decided to pay for at the end of the dinner in congratulations. They had laughed and teased me throughout daring me to find the kids a good father which caused both boys to blink and Naruto to chuckle behind his hand.

We stopped at an outlet mall on the way back into town and made sure they both had a good start on a full wardrobe and I began to see personality traits of my two that had been subdued or just not able to shine while at the home. They both seemed ecstatic to receive more personalized clothes though Sasuke had an eye on more dignified outfits than the jeans and brightly colored T-shirts that Naruto craved. I made the crazy blonde boy put back everything neon, but allowed all sorts of limes and oranges and one particularly loud shirt covered with red spirals. Auntie just laughed and made sure everything was easy wash.

During the drive back I entertained them with tales of their new school which I worked at and our farm which we would be moving out to over the summer again. Naruto wanted to see cows and goats and ride a big pig while Sasuke scoffed and said he was more interested in what we grew. The two actually seemed to tolerate each other in their excitement to get to their new home and both back doors of our car opened almost before I had fully braked in the driveway of our house in town.

I got out and watched both boys just stand beside each other and stare. It was mind boggling when I saw Naruto grab Sasuke's hand and grin cheekily at him. I pulled their suitcases out of the trunk and walked forward to purposefully run into the little boy shaped statues that didn't seem to be breathing. I had to hold back tears as Auntie unlocked the door and welcomed them home; Naruto didn't bother hiding his as he grabbed her tight but still never let go of Sasuke's hand. The stoic, dark haired little boy just leaned against her until she wrapped an arm around him, too. At a noise from me they both turned and I was on the receiving end of what I knew would be a great tackle with a little training and some growth. I hugged them both and even had some fun lifting them up and shaking them in an attempt to keep myself from choking on my own happy tears.

The boys were settled in and a strong argument began between all four of us. Auntie thought that keeping them out of the last month of school would be an acceptable measure for this year. The boys were mixed on the decision, wanting to both become familiar with the kids who would be their peers and friends and being a little nervous to just jump headfirst into things. Being a schoolteacher I was on the side of immediately placing them into classes. In the end we all compromised. They were allowed to stay out of school for the remainder of the semester and the summer as long as they passed the end of year tests for their grade level. I got together with the higher ups of the elementary and the junior high along with the other parents who had brought their new children home and explained our compromise. The schools were amenable to the idea and the children were all given one week to prepare.

Knowing that the boys were nervous, I went ahead and helped them with their studying in the evenings after work. Auntie had them helping out around the house during the day getting things set up for a summer at the farm, and it was the cleanest I'd seen it in years; she even had them help with sanding and repolishing the wooden floors downstairs. Naruto continuously cited child labor laws while Sasuke just sat and enjoyed the homemade goodies she treated them with afterwards with a smirk on his face.

Summer came and we moved out to the farm. Over the years I'd become knowledgable enough about the workings to take over where my father had once ruled, out in the fields with the migrant workers we hired. The boys tagged along and began learning languages just as I had when I was younger. I quickly saw that Sasuke had a strong kicking foot for a future soccer team while Naruto would probably do better at running the ball down the field due to his quick feet. They both enjoyed the ripe berries, and I got to laugh at their faces as they tried my favorite barely ripened strawberries. Fortunately I was responsible enough that year not to cause myself any stomachaches.

The summer was quickly finished and the first day of school showed up in what seemed like a matter of days. The boys and I made our way back into town while Auntie stayed to watch over the rest of the harvest which had run late that year due to weather. We three males quickly learned that I had retained nothing of cooking while away at college other than how to boil water and wait three minutes for my cup noodles to soften. We became familiar faces in the town's restaurants and Auntie could only laugh as the single female population suddenly decided I was in need of a wife and began to show off their casserole skills. Naruto quickly began sucking up to one lovely lady in particular who made a wonderful chicken and cheese enchilada dish that had been devoured in one night while Sasuke offered his coveted nod to a married woman with a daughter his own age that had brought us a rice and peas mix along with her own daughter for dinner company and some helpful advice for pre-pubescent insanity.

Auntie continued to laugh that entire school year as Naruto and Sasuke started at the Junior High, which the school system cleverly arranged for me to substitute at whenever they had an opening, and the women continued to offer casseroles and cookies now as a 'thank you' for my wonderful teaching efforts. A promised classroom all to myself was waiting for me in two years once the current sixth grade teacher at the Junior High retired so I was shuffled around as the permanent substitute to any of the three schools. I was able to watch over little kindergartners during their first finger painting experience and senior high schoolers during a complicated science lab. I didn't see much difference in behavior other than the kindergartners were able to keep much cleaner.

Christmas that year brought a slightly momentous occasion as Anko sent another card, but this time with a P.O Box address to return mail to. She still didn't want her family finding her, but was willing to set communications back up with all of us. Hayate's parents came with an unopened card addressed to my deceased friend and a request that I send Anko a note about what had happened. A month later Anko showed up at my house in the middle of the night scaring us all to death with her knocking at one o'clock in the morning. I was finally able to get her up to my bedroom and wrapped in a warm comforter for the rest of the night and called in to work for the next day as I planned to go with her to his gravesite. I camped out on the couch and was happily jumped on in lieu of my alarm clock by Naruto, who had been easily picked up and thrown by Anko, who then began yelling at me about how early my alarm went off. She left the next afternoon once Auntie made sure she'd drank enough liquids to replace all of the tears she'd cried over the years, not just over Hayate's death. After that a regular communication between us popped up, and Anko began slowly telling me what had happened to her in a series of long letters.

Orochimaru had acted exactly as Kakashi had predicted and not even looked her way unless he had a 'project' for her to work on. She had quickly realized the tenuous legality of his 'projects' and disappeared on him just as she'd done with us but for one exception. She told me how she'd eventually been tracked down by a weird old pervert and asked if she would participate in a deposition for a case against Orochimaru's ethical practices while being a teacher at the high school he'd gone back to after leaving our small town. He'd been found in a very questionable position with another young student, Kabuto by name, and the district was not taking it lightly at all. She'd agreed and even got paid by the old man, Jiraiya by name. She admitted to not contacting us out of shame for what she'd done. She wanted to prove to all of us and, most importantly to herself that she had gotten her life back on track and would survive that adolescent mistake.

That letter wound up deserving a phone call as I remembered a name from before and also had to make sure that she understood how Hayate and I would have supported her if she'd just told us what was going on. Our conversation that night meandered back and forth until I got the impulse and then the nerve to ask her about Kakashi and if she had met him through Jiraiya. I could feel her nervousness when I asked about him, but she finally let me know that yes, she had seen Kakashi and he was doing good, but her original comment of 'you don't know?' when I said his name for the first time was worrying.

It wasn't until summer that I actually spoke to Anko again other than a few brief letters during the busy spring semester. She helped me set up a surprise return dinner with her parents and a few guests that I thought wouldn't censure her for her non-existent goodbyes. The big night finally came and the boys were excited enough to not run around in their nice clothes that Auntie had threatened them with earfuls of deviousness should they ruin. I had the privilege of laughing outrageously at them as they sat quietly and said nothing to anybody or each other while we adults chatted while waiting for the guest of honor to show.

Anko finally arrived with two in tow, one unfamiliar old man with wide shoulders and shockingly white hair she introduced as Jiraiya, and a familiar face with a few changes. Anko had brought Kakashi back and I didn't know what type of expression to return to her hesitant glances my way much less his. He looked good, fabulous, stupendous in a dark grey suit; like he belonged in the city he was visiting from, but it was the changes about him that I found the most fascinating. Unfortunately there were two pairs of curious eyes that were sitting to my right that found my lack of conversation and obvious overuse of stares to be anxiously nerve-wracking. Sasuke and Naruto finally started whispering and nudging each other until Sasuke was designated the speaker and finally asked me a hushed question in as bored a tone as the boy could ever produce.

"Hey, Iruka, Naruto wants to know if that man is going to be our new daddy."

I'd never hidden my preferences from the boys and knew they were aware of them as much as they knew I wasn't actively going out on dates or even looking, but to have my two 'sons' confront me in such a way at a nicely set table with my first love sitting across and three chairs down from me was a bit unsettling. I was able to not shout at them, but my glare promised retribution beyond anything they had ever experienced, and I later got a whispered question from Anko's mother on the fun colors my face had turned. I blamed it on an unexpected walnut.

It wasn't until later that night that I felt I could safely return to my casual perusal of Kakashi and his changes and then it could only be from memory as Anko, Jiriaya and he had returned to their rooms at the local motel. He was thinner than when I'd last seen him, possibly even paler and definitely more worn. He was also wearing a high turtle necked shirt under his jacket in the near summer temperatures and a soft looking cloth wrapped around his head to hide his left eye even though it didn't conceal the last bit of scar running down his cheek or a few other long since healed over scratches along his jaw. He'd obviously been in something destructive and a car accident was the first thing to come to mind. My mind continued to mull over the changes and what might have caused them until Anko threw rocks at my window like a ten year old and I let her in for some doctored coffee and a long overdue conversation.

She told me as much as she knew, which turned out to be a pretty good amount. Jiraiya had adopted her into his 'family of degenerates' as he called them all. He hadn't been in an accident, but an explosion at Orochimaru's high school. The district thought the boy, Kabuto had set it up as a way to enact revenge for Kakashi's part in exposing his and Orochimaru's actions. Several chemicals had been misplaced in the closet allowing them to react explosively together once the proper temperature had been reached. She'd only been around for the last two years of his therapy, but could honestly tell me in a low voice that he'd just fully remembered me tonight even though he'd asked quickly forgotten questions before this.

I was surprised my coffee cup didn't implode due to how tight my hands were holding it. She apologized and apologized over and over again while I kept telling her it wasn't her fault. I almost choked when she explained how the lawyers in Orochimaru's case had used her testimony, and several interesting pictures to lead the jury in their correct belief that Orochimaru had hurried out of our town only to meet up with Kabuto again and then continue an ongoing relationship with the young boy. I told her what had happened on my end in order to get the timing correct in my head, and she explained that the explosion had happened early in the fall semester. Kabuto and Orochimaru had been found during early summer classes; Kakashi had been the one to find them and immediately complain to the district. During the fall out directly before school, Jiraiya and him had gone on a trip to get Kakashi out of the spotlight, but it gave Kabuto time to plan.

She tried giving me some good news to cheer me up before bed, which we both wound up avoiding that night. His eye wasn't gone completely, but discolored and affected in such a way that he got horrendous migraines after exposing it to light for too long. Eventually he might be able to do away with the eye-patch altogether, but the doctors didn't think that would happen for a few more years. He'd never lost any physical mobility, but the blast had knocked him into a six month coma and required some fancy renetworking on his brain's part once he'd awoken with his memories intact, but seriously scrambled. He still had minor problems with short term memory and would probably continue to do so, but his long term memories were all coming back with image, sound and smell prompting. He'd started asking and then answering questions about his year in our town and shut up quickly when she asked him what he remembered about me. I grinned at her as she teased me and we were able to greet the dawn with smiles on our faces instead of frowns.

The fancy dinner had been on a Friday night and the three out-of-towners weren't scheduled to fly back home until Sunday evening. Auntie had them all over for Saturday lunch while Anko's parents worked at their small grocery store in town, and I was able to finally look Kakashi in the eye and smile easily. Then Naruto and Sasuke demanded attention through a badly thrown football and the festivities were off to a great start as Anko began demonstrating her superior skills in tackle football against eleven year olds. The weather had given in to Auntie's enjoyment of a good game of mudball and all four of us required hosing off and showers before we were served sandwiches and potato salad.

Kakashi stayed quiet most of the afternoon but answered confidently whenever Jiraiya brought him into the conversation. Auntie had obviously been told what happened as she didn't say a thing about his lack of phone calls or sudden change in demeanor. She wasn't even showing any interest in the history between Kakashi and I until near dinner; which Jiraiya and Kakashi were invited to stay for while Anko was frowned into submissively walking to her parent's house to eat there and endure a private speaking to that we all knew she was trying to avoid.

Once Anko had left, Kakashi and I were shuffled into the kitchen and set to cleaning, chopping and doing everything except apply heat to the many ingredients for one of Auntie's roasts. I knew dinner was going to be late so I had the temerity to pop open some easy bake croissants and wonder at how to roll them for a quick appetizer knowing the boys would be hungry even before the open preheated. As I glared at the directions that had always baffled me I was surprised to feel a breath against my cheek. Kakashi had leaned over and was staring down at the now empty container with the same level of ferocity as I was. After assuring him that the biscuits had done nothing to offend me he'd quickly taken over and deftly rolled the little triangles of chilled dough into plump looking croissant shapes ready to be cooked in fifteen minutes or less.

I returned to washing and chopping the colorful vegetables Auntie had placed on the table while Kakashi went after the tiny sprigs of stuff she'd ordered him to finely dice and mash and turn into powder if their final look was anything to go by. I got to laugh at him as he vainly tried to wash the herby smell off his hands until I was fiercely glared at. I then straightened up and explained that the soap was a handmade specialty Auntie bought in town scented with rosemary. I assured him it smelled fine and even grabbed his wrist and took a sniff. He smelled just fine to me, absolutely perfect. I even washed my own hands in the soap after I was done and allowed him to reassure himself that the smell was not girly by smelling my well scrubbed hands; the twinkle in his exposed eye made me blush and the brief glimpse of bright hair through the kitchen window when I turned my eyes away had me immediately about facing and running to the screen door that separated the kitchen from the prison of the back porch where the boys had been confined with a board game. I was able to easily and knowingly place my hand over Naruto's mouth before he blurted any more daddy words and apologized while dragging him back out onto the porch.

When I returned into the kitchen after a hushed argument with my rambunctious son I found Jiraiya and Kakashi ensconced at the table with warm croissants and iced tea while Auntie mysteriously mixed ingredients and began applying the proper amount of heat to cook dinner and not burn the house down. She tossed me a mischevious old lady grin and asked if I'd whipped the boy properly. Naruto, being the quick rodent he was, immediately began making the appropriate pain filled and pleading noises. He then began to recite the child abuse laws and I turned around to loudly threaten him with my own extensive knowledge of them and exactly why I knew how to get around them. He went and hid beside Sasuke who was ignoring all of us for his complicated game of solitaire. Jiraiya was laughing at us and promptly chimed in with a few fun stories of Kakashi when he was younger and possibly more brat-like than Naruto was being.

It was odd sitting there listening intently to stories about a person's childhood when that same person was listening just as hard. I kept wanting to ask Kakashi what he remembered of those tales, but managed just to laugh with everybody at the many reasons he'd given why the family needed a dog instead of a cat, namely the untenable paradox he'd be forced to experiment about regarding buttered bread and cats always landing on their feet. His father had given in after Kakashi had casually mentioned how extremely high up their fourth floor apartment was; a dog was quickly acquired for the small family. Kakashi was able to tell stories about his dog Pakuun and Auntie laughed and told the story about my huge fish. I watched as Kakashi's eyes widened at that story and then glanced my way. He grinned wide and said he remembered me telling him about that. I hid my face in my hands and complained that both Kakashi and I were too old to be brought low with such stories; then I turned the tables and cheerfully told everyone how Auntie had caught her husband so many years ago. Kakashi made me blush when he bravely turned to Auntie afterwards and accused her of giving me ideas, but the pleased smirk on her face had everyone laughing. The teasing went back and forth until Sasuke requested Auntie's expert advice over his card game and all six of us wound up playing rummy until dinner was ready. Auntie was the final winner with Sasuke, her little card shark protégée coming in a close second. Naruto and I were both able to groan over our lack of points and losing status until we were hushed by the order to clean the dishes after dinner for whining.

When the boys were sent to bed, late as a surprise due to company, I was grilled on how I'd become such a young father. Jiraiya asked me all about my college years and if I still looked forward to teaching every day. He finally confessed to being the principal at a school and always on the look out for new and pleasant teachers. I told him I didn't plan on moving away from town ever. He smiled and nodded saying the small country schools offered up some of the best teachers he'd ever seen and then complimented me on my district's grades and sports programs which Kakashi later explained was just an attempt at buttering me into thinking nicely of him. It wasn't until the next night when Jiraiya took me aside that I really understood why the old man would have wanted me to think fondly of him.

Anko had grabbed Kakashi into helping her teach the boys how to play poker not knowing that Auntie had already graduated Sasuke on that game. They both lost their cookies faster than Naruto, but it gave Jiraiya time and excuse to talk to me when I declined to participate knowing how good the boys were. He then asked me some hard questions and offered me some even harder realizations. I'd moved on with my life after Kakashi and, yes he did know about what had happened. He wanted me to realize that due to the injury Kakashi hadn't moved on and what exactly were my intentions now that I knew the man hadn't dropped me as a one night stand as soon as he moved away.

Within seconds I knew what I wanted to say and knew it was right. I'd moved on, yes, but I had a lot to move me; and just because I had moved on didn't mean I'd forgotten. I'd even explained to Kakashi that night about how I had to put my life in order. I truly believed that had I had access to him I would have done what I could have to keep us in contact even if distance forced some unpleasant ideas on either of us. Jiraiya kept quiet as I told him that maybe I wouldn't have made what mistakes I had if I'd still had Kakashi around, but that having made those mistakes I knew I was a better adult for them. My first love had drifted away from me not because of anything bad, but just because he was out of sight, and as the old saying went, out of sight, out of mind. I spoke very plainly to Jiraiya that if Kakashi was willing to have me back in his mind then I was perfectly willing to have him back in mine. The old man sighed and smiled then made a suggestion I never would have thought of actually doing, but maybe would have dreamed.

Jiraiya wanted me to invite Kakashi to spend some time out here in the country with us. He'd been years stuck in the city and its fast paced life knowing he couldn't be a part of it again just yet, and Jiraiya could see him cracking. He'd even done research on our small town hospital and found that any specialist or therapist Kakashi might need to see while he was there would be easily welcomed due to policies put in place during Hayate's lifetime of various and ever changing doctors. Jiraiya thought that Kakashi needed a place where he could do his final bits of healing and a berry farm in the summer seemed just the thing. Jiraiya then said the words that made me say yes quickly in an attempt to get out of the conversation and run to my room so I could wail about all the injustices that had occurred to both of us that could have been avoided.

"He told me he loved you, told me plain as day and out loud, and that wasn't four years ago when he moved back in with me. That night you two spent together was just a few days ago in his mind; he told me that last night when he realized who you were, the man he'd been dreaming about that I couldn't give a name to on doctor's orders. All of his feelings are as clear as day and as bright and new as a fresh penny. I just needed to make sure that yours were properly in place before I asked you to do this. It's not a little thing."

They left that evening after I agreed to write, call, email, whatever I could do to keep in touch. Anko offered to house me in the city if I ever needed a break from the kids and Jiraiya seconded the motion. I slyly slid in that I would have to return the favor if that happened and made the old man smile. He knew I'd be there before too long and that nothing would keep me from Kakashi now; there was no reason other than distance to keep us apart and that was easily solved. As soon as they were gone I told Auntie what we had planned and finally said yes to Naruto's daddy question which seemed to please both the boys. It came as a surprise to me, but somewhere in that weekend Kakashi had impressed Sasuke in some way and the quiet boy had no problem with seeing more of the man or his ability to cheat at cards. Naruto just liked him on principle due to his piratical looks.

I immediately began making plans with Anko to visit and have her conveniently need to do something that left me stranded on Jiraiya and Kakashi's doorstep for a few days. Being the devious minded female she was, Anko jumped in head first and had me packed and flying in to town without any transportation other than being driven around by somebody else within a week. Then her job, working at the city newspaper, offered her the must do task of flying out of town to back up the big reporter she'd always hoped to work for, and she just couldn't pass up a promotion tempting situation. I was duly flown in, fed dinner and dropped off at Jiraiya's within a few hours. Kakashi looked suspicious, but I unpacked my suitcase while continuously apologizing about imposing on them. After many minutes of this he finally shrugged and showed me around.

They lived in a house not far from where Jiraiya worked; a three bedroom monstrosity that I managed to get lost in twice the first day. While Jiraiya had principal duties at the school to see about, Kakashi was free the entire week I was going to be there. We started my vacation off by sightseeing in the downtown area and forcing me to walk down sixty flights of stairs on a sudden aerobic whim of Kakashi's. It was a port town near the ocean so of course we made a day trip out to the beach. Neither of us had brought swimming clothes so we wound up eating too many varieties of seafood while we walked around the tourist shops and watched historical films. Another day I was ushered by both Kakashi and Jiraiya out to the suburbs of the city to glance at a new school being built that Jiraiya was aiming to get the principal position at, and then the plot of land he wanted to build a new and even more monstrous house on.

Kakashi was a perfect gentleman the entire time I stayed. I kept smiling and talking hoping that he might relax a bit or even just lean on my shoulder as he had in Auntie's kitchen, but my last night came and went without even a lecherous look. Anko was still out of town when the time came for me to fly back home so Kakashi would up dropping me off at the airport. It near mirrored our parting just after graduation. We talked, the car pulled up to the curb, my courage hid behind the bushes waiting until the last moment to jump out and attack, but Kakashi was the one who answered my unspoken questions that time. I finally was able to see the nervousness in his eyes and then acceptance as I stared him down from the passenger seat. I parted with a kiss, just a touch of the lips and a promise to greet him at the airport come August or sooner if he wanted. He'd stayed quiet, but his smile was infectious and stayed with me until I fell asleep on the hours long flight back home.

We met again a long month later when he showed up on the farmhouse doorstep a day early. Jiraiya had called and warned us about the bee that had bit him about driving back to our small town and given us his planned itinerary which he obviously ignored completely once he was on the road. Kakashi spent the first twenty-four hours sleeping after having Auntie give him an earful on dangerous driving. He fit in perfectly.

I showed him our fields, the long rows of low growing bushes that were now speckled with bright colors. Our workers became accustomed to him grabbing a basket and picking right along beside them as I ran around with my clipboard and filled my own days with names and weights while he filled his with fresh berries eaten underneath one of our experimental lemon trees. Naruto and Sasuke would con Kakashi into helping them steal pears and plums occasionally as they were still too short to reach over and open the gate to the fenced in orchard. One day I found all four of them, Kakashi, Auntie, Sasuke and Naruto enjoying a picnic lunch underneath the bird protected trees without me and wound up stealing as much food off of Kakashi's plate as I could. They hadn't brought any for me.

The weeks passed and school season reared its ugly head as the seventh grade teacher came to speak to me over his worries regarding my sons, mostly Naruto and his class. He was supposed to be speaking to them and getting an idea of what type of students he would be teaching, but instead ignored them in favor of a fellow educator. I could only smile and wait patiently for an entry into Ebisu's constant run of sentences to shove him out the door with a promise that I would talk to Naruto, which I did. I explained to both of my kids right there at the kitchen table in front of everybody during dinner, that as long as they weren't caught I had no problems with them doing what they thought was justified retaliation. Then I pointed out some books I thought they might find interesting.

That entire year I was only called in for disciplinary action once and it was for Sasuke. To my utter and complete surprise, evidently shown by my well practiced 'shocked' face, he had been caught sharking the older students at the junior high out of their money. Gambling was officially against the rules at the school and one of the parents had complained that her responsible youngest son had been bilked out of his allowance by my wayward hoyden. I took note of the mother's name and schooled Sasuke on an acceptable apology which we gave at her door; then I treated him to a lavish dinner just the two of us and laughed at how easily and how much he'd gotten out of the kid.

Naruto turned into a devious prankster of all grades, even going so far as to set off a well known compound in the classroom I was subbing in one day. Though the culprit was never officially found he wound up being grounded for the next week and was given a thorough talking to about using my own tricks against me and for no reason whatsoever. I did manage to snap a picture of Ebisu when the school pool was cleverly dyed a light blue. Unable to tell, the entire seventh grade class had jumped in and found themselves to be a new and interesting color. Sasuke and Naruto both proudly paraded his efforts around for the two days worth of showers it took to wash out. Strangely enough the one girl I their class who might have had a reaction to the dyes used had stayed home sick that day.

Kakashi was with us that entire time, laughing and helping them plan as he whiled the days away with Auntie. It was only late in the summer that my busy mind had realized what him driving in to town instead of flying meant. He didn't have anything keeping him in the city and now had no time limit written on a plane ticket that he had to follow. I took my next step in a carefully contrived but hurried way just before the school season started. There were two days before I moved back to town followed by Auntie and the boys within a week. I brought an idea to the dinner table which brought frowns and contemplative looks from different faces. I spoke candidly to Kakashi and asked him if he'd lived alone since the accident then offered the farmhouse as a place to do so once we moved back in to town, if he wanted to stay. He would have some time to himself without annoying brats running around and dragging him off to the orchard or the lake or whatever mischief they were up to that day, and we would have time to shift the study into a makeshift bedroom for him if he wanted to stay. He seemed upset and almost ready to leave completely but relaxed when Auntie assured him he wouldn't be imposing and that we all enjoyed his company, even though she was glaring at me the entire time she was speaking. Jiraiaya had handed him into our care and Auntie was going to make sure he was well taken care of.

I was blasted with a lecture on insensitivity as soon as Kakashi went to bed in the guest bedroom as Auntie continued in her quest to make sure Kakashi was well taken care of. She threatened me the same way she did the boys as she told me exactly where the foldaway cots were stored in the attic and what type of things she was sure I needed to do to the study to make it even slightly habitable for her favored guest. I got the last laugh when she and the boys arrived at the house to see the study as messy and full of papers as it ever had been. Her mouth pursed grumpily when I explained to her that I had plenty of room in my bed for both Kakashi and myself. Then I let her in on my entire plan including the two weeks of leave I'd requested right at the start of the school year, a notorious time known for its lack of work for substitutes. I was heading back out to the farm, without them.

I'd sat and thought about it for some time while watching the boys trade off on the rope swing over the lake that day before the disastrous dinner. Kakashi had been sunning by the water's edge and laughing with Auntie over her old fashioned swimwear. He'd been polite the entire month he'd been there, but I'd seen my senior year all over again; the sly looks, the teasing words and stolen touches that were brushed off with an apology. We were both hesitant to return to our previous relationship, not that there was ever a real one and maybe that was the problem. Kakashi knew time had passed for me and was maybe giving himself his own time to get to know the new me, even if I thought of myself as the same if a few steps off of what I used to be. Possibly Kakashi wanted to make sure the new me he perceived was still attracted to the same old him; except he was the same old him now without any prospects for the future other than a large bank account due to the school's on-the-job injury insurance policy.

It was a confusing situation and my thoughts were running in circles until I paused all thought processes and took a turn on the rope swing to once more show the boys how it was done. With a louder yell than Naruto had ever given off I dropped myself right into the deepest, coldest part of the lake and stayed under until my lungs were shriveling in on themselves for lack of air. It was as I walked up the shallow bank and saw his eyes watching me that I realized what I needed to do. I think my determined expression at that time might have come off as a bit annoyed as I stared right back at him. I knew right then and there that I would have to seduce him again and had utterly no problem with doing so.

A/N: Just one more bit to go, and even if this doesn't seem to be the most popular of my stories it's one that I've finished and I'm proud of it for that! XD I hope you enjoyed it


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Life in a Small Town  
Genre: Naruto  
Warnings & Pairings & Characters: Yaoi & Kakairu & as many characters as fit into the story properly while keeping to their ages  
Summary: Iruka in first person, a quick rundown of his life, AU Present day  
Status: Complete, unbeta'd

Chapter Four

Kakashi wasn't inside when I showed up late at the farmhouse. I took my time unloading the food Auntie had sent; several easy to bake pre-mixed dishes. It was only when the clock struck ten that I started getting worried even though I knew he was now as familiar with our small forest as I was. I struck out searching with a flashlight just in case.

He wasn't hard to find, but he was surprised when I snuck up on him from behind as he sat by the lake. The cheshire moon was thinly reflected on its surface and the fireflies were showing off on the far side. I turned my light off and sat beside him in companionable silence as we enjoyed the warm night.

"There's a memory I have of this place, and it doesn't feel real," he finally told me. "But you're here with me in this setting with the lightning bugs and a bright moon and you're telling me goodbye."

I kept from laughing and stretched my arms. "It's not a real memory. It's what might have happened, but it won't now. I don't see myself ever having to tell you goodbye again unless you're the one who wants to leave." I glanced over to look at him in the dark. I could see that he'd taken his eye patch off and his mismatched eyes were now exposed. "I don't think I want you to leave again, though."

He lowered his gaze to his hands, clasped in his lap. "I'm not…" He tried again. "I don't want to leave, either."

I knew there was probably more things we should have sat there and talked about, important ideas to understand about each other and how we thought the future should turn out, but I felt that sitting there beside him and reaching my hand over to grab one of his was enough for right then. We sat and held hands and he eventually asked about the lightning bugs which I immediately corrected him as 'fireflies.' We slept apart that night, but I didn't worry. We still had thirteen more nights and this was time all to ourselves for now. I wasn't feeling a rush after he had held my hand just as tightly that night.

The next morning we dined on cereal and coffee. Over the weeks he'd been with us Kakashi had grown used to 'grumpy Iruka' mornings and patiently waited for me to down my favored two cups before starting a conversation that didn't start with 'would you like more sugar' and end with an assenting grunt from me.

"You're here now," he started with easy words. "So I can only assume you won't need to be back for a while."

I peered over at him through a barely opened eyelid and sipped loudly but said nothing. He stood up and took both of our now empty bowls over to the sink only to return and sit back down across from me at the small kitchen table. I stayed silent as I stood up and stretched in my pajamas then turned to leave the kitchen. "It's early," I threw behind me flippantly. "I'm on vacation, so I'm going back to bed." I turned a corner and slowed my already shuffling pace to a stop then pivoted and poked my head back in to the kitchen with a wide smile. He was still sitting there but now staring straight at me.

"You don't happen to want to join me, do you," I asked while I felt my face turning red. He was out of his chair and holding my shoulders against the hallway wall within seconds. I could only stare at him with a surprised look until he touched our foreheads together.

"Iruka," he said almost calmly. "You just gave me permission again, didn't you?"

I blinked then squeaked as he leaned in to me. "Permission? It sounded more like an invitation to me." My hands traveled straight to his hips and grabbed hold. I had previously thought I was ready for when he would kiss me again, but what happened next as our lips met was beyond anything my mind had attempted to process. The complex emotions transferred to me through that kiss were enough to make me cry as he held me; there was so much sadness and yearning and then anticipation. As soon as Kakashi pulled away I dived in and promptly nipped at his neck in one particular spot I remembered well. After that I was being pulled into his bedroom and accosted to my utter and complete joy.

Our hands were all over each other and pretty soon our pajamas weren't. My fingers sought out the new scars I'd kept myself from looking at too obviously as I sat straddling his thighs. He was gently pushed down on the bed so my tongue could explore them also and with nice accompaniment if his groans were anything to go by. I wanted our first time together again to be memorable, but we both acted like randy teenagers and wound up making a mess against our bare stomachs in quick succession.

We laid there together arms wrapped around the other for some time just talking like I knew we needed to, but reveling in the feel of each other as we did. It was somehow easier to listen to Kakashi's fears about his own mental condition when I could feel his hand running up and down my back. I could only hope it was easier for him to hear how I didn't care and wanted him to stay with me in any condition he could as I began kissing us back into action.

We stayed near each other that entire day and mostly naked though I did demand pants when we went lunch and then dinner hunting. That night I had him laughing on the front porch over everybody's 'seduce Kakashi' plans even if it earned me a few bonks on the head. I didn't mind as the forgiving neck massage afterwards quickly turned full body. It was only with the furtive whispering of the word 'splinters' that I got Kakashi off the front porch and back into the house for what was looking to be my memorable and long lasting session with his body for the second time that day.

We christened the couch, the shower again, and then my bed was taken to for the night as it was bigger than Kakashi's. He succeeded in stealing my one pillow forcing me to use his shoulder. When his wandering hands woke me the next morning I had somehow stolen it back and was having to deal with him being draped over me in place of the blanket one of us had kicked to the floor. Right then I found a new cure for my grumpy mornings even though it took entirely too much time to be useful.

We had our two weeks together and thoroughly enjoyed them. I eventually called Auntie to inform her that my plan had worked and could hear her smile through the phone. Jiraiya was also called, and a grand plan evolved. Kakashi wound up moving back to the city for a few months to finalize things there, but we all had a grand party when he returned with a new truck packed with boxes. The boys accused him of staying a city boy since he had decided that keeping his truck sparkling was a perfect way to keep them out of mischief. I decided that his truck needed some weathering in and took him and it mudding as soon as spring made it possible. The boys got to ride in the back. For the many years afterwards that we had that truck it was never clean again.

My Auntie continuously called us the perfect romantic storyline, great loves separated then brought back together to live happily ever after; which it almost seemed to be. The town accepted us as a permanent couple after getting us shoved done their throats at every town meeting when we would show up together. I continued at the school and eventually lobbied to get Kakashi a consulting position on the board. He helped us immensely with adding new classes and stealing good teachers. I was finally given a permanent class assignment and enjoyed chewing out sixth graders for years.

It was seven years after Kakashi had stayed with us that we lost the boys to college. Naruto earned a sports scholarship, but eventually graduated with honors in agriculture. He came back to the farm to run it 'properly' he would describe it. I thankfully dropped the entire load on his lap which he didn't seem to mind at all. Sasuke went into finance and set up house in a nearby city, only a few hours drive away. He never married, but enjoyed spoiling the kids that Naruto's wife popped out every three years regularly for some time. After Auntie passed away and Naruto took over the farm, Kakashi and I moved in to the house in town permanently and helped Naruto and his family find a larger house in town to move in to for the school season.

Kakashi's eye never got better as expected, but he never worried about what to be for Halloween. His minor memory problems were easily dealt with and eventually disappeared altogether. I introduced him to my friends from college and we got into the habit of occasionally driving to spend time with Genma and Raidou; and also had them out to the farm once in while. Raidou was even considering leaving the city completely when his bar burned down, but Genma loved his job at the foster house too much.

I was eventually offered the position of principal at the elementary school after much discussing and sideways looking at completely inappropriate people by the school board. Kakashi finally had to throw his hands up and resign his position with the board to get me there, but they all felt better afterwards. He thumbed his nose at them by immediately getting hired by our mayor at a higher rate of pay. Until he retired he was the power behind the power in our town as everyone knew he was just too smart to let any idiot idea get past him; whether it was from someone who lived in our town, or a big city proposal.

We got older together, something that I had once thought impossible, but I relished every minute of it. It wasn't until I finally retired that I realized how much of a dream life I'd experienced even when the bad was weighed against the good. My dream finally ended when I lost Kakashi just before his seventy-fifth birthday. I had retired a few years before that and we had taken up a regular schedule of traveling. We were able to see and experience all sorts of things, plus bring back goodies for the grandkids. It was a good, long life for us both, and it still went on after as I had Sasuke move back in to town soon after we lost Kakashi. He came back with a surprise though, a new wife with a grown daughter from a previous marriage. They moved in with me and Sasuke set up his own little investment business in town. I was now able to see and experience everything from where Auntie had once stood and I enjoyed it immensely.

My family continued to grow as the grandkids had their own children and they grew up to form their own families. They spread out across the state and even across the oceans, but I was able to hold my tiny new born great-great- granddaughter before I finally saw Kakashi again. That night when I opened my eyes to see my lover waiting with a hand held out for me once more was just one more happy sight to add to the many that I'd already seen. With one last breath and no hesitation; I wished the world and my family well and smiled as my fingers were finally entwined with his again, and I knew that this time I wouldn't ever have to let go.

Complete.

A/N: Well, one of the few stories I've ever finished :D I think it turned out well for my first journey into first person POV. I enjoyed skipping around over the years and just hitting the highlights, hope that didn't bother too many. Thank you for enjoying it. :D


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